Healed by Loss
In order to heal from the teachings of the Prosperity Gospel, we must be fully convinced and appreciate the blessings of the new covenant under which we live. This appreciation will only be fully recognized through suffering in His name. Consider the growth of each of the apostles and disciples. Each became emboldened in their teachings and stronger in their beliefs following great suffering, seemingly failure, or persecution. This new empowerment came not from earthly riches and prosperity, but from their direction and empowerment of the presence of Jesus.
Paul was able to boast about His Savior following his sufferings and his forsaking of the world. The more Paul lost, the more he was able to see the glory of God and give Him rightful praise. Paul wrote in 1 Peter 4:16, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” Paul left a life of wealth, comfort, and worldly acceptance to follow Christ as did many of the early apostles and disciples. He wrote in Philippians 3:8, “what is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” He “consider them garbage, that [he] may gain Christ.” It was through tumultuous journeys and the sufferings therein which God used to establish the foundations for their teachings and resulting witness to us today.
Healed by the Burn
The blessings and curses of fleshly comforts are not isolated under the “new covenant.” Consider the great riches and peace given to King Solomon during his reign over Israel. He began by treasuring a closeness to the Lord, yet as his riches grew, his desire for more fame and wealth led to the accumulation of foreign wives. The subsequent kings of both Israel and Judah, save a handful, followed this greedy mold and consequently mortgaged their peace with God for the pursuit of earthly prosperity. Notice, however, the life of Jeremiah who, like many of the prophets, forsook all stature and comfort in order to convey God’s message. Seemingly no one listened to the messages of Jeremiah except for those who wished to bring forth his persecution.
In Jeremiah 20:1-2, we see that Jeremiah was put into stocks by Pashur the priest. He was sentenced to death in Jeremiah 26:11. In Jeremiah 38:6, He was cast into a cistern with only mud and no water with the hopes he would die. As a consequence, Jeremiah became even more emboldened to his calling. In Jeremiah 20:9, he wrote, “but if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot.”
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